Agricultural Trade Strategy Forum Working Committee Held... Discussion on 'FTA Promotion Status and Export Quarantine'

Addressing Agricultural Trade Issues Including the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 28th that it will hold the 1st Agricultural Trade Strategy Forum Working Committee at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 29th.

The Agricultural Trade Strategy Forum Working Committee is a subcommittee of the Agricultural Trade Strategy Forum, aimed at closely communicating with agricultural organizations and agricultural product export organizations regarding major agricultural trade issues.

At this working committee meeting, the current status and future plans for Free Trade Agreement (FTA) promotion will be discussed first. The progress and status of major FTA agricultural negotiations with Ecuador, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the Philippines, and others, as well as the outlook for negotiations this year, will be shared.

Next, the trends and response directions of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) agricultural negotiations will also be addressed. The negotiation trends will be shared and opinions collected, focusing on innovation and technology for sustainable agriculture, food security, improvement of sanitary and quarantine implementation procedures, and transparency enhancement, which were discussed in the previous working-level negotiations. Additionally, key items for export quarantine negotiations of agricultural and livestock products will be shared, and difficulties faced in the export field will be heard.

Jeong Hyeryeon, Director of International Cooperation at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, "This working committee is a place to share the progress of major agricultural trade issues and gather opinions from stakeholders in the agricultural sector," adding, "We will review the opinions of the working committee and refer to and reflect them in the negotiation response and strategy establishment in the agriculture and food sector."